(For a national view of public education reform see the end of this blog post)

For 23 years I was an acclaimed teacher who taught school with excellent teaching evaluations and no negative marks of any kind against me. Only when I dared to say that cheating on student assessments was rampant in my school and throughout LAUSD (for which I have documentary proof) was I subjected to a well orchestrated campaign of harassment, highly defamatory false charges, and ultimate dismissal from LAUSD which is now pending before an expensive and protracted legal process that LAUSD seems content to endlessly throw money at even though they have no evidence against me that has not been fabricated.. I guess I should be flattered that they recently engaged the toney outside law firm of Bergman and Dacey to continue the

Since 2009 I have spent my summers riding an orange and cream colored scooter round Chicago. She purred and zipped and zoomed and so was dubbed “Sneaky Cheetah.”

Alas, she didn’t make it to her third July 4th and so I took it upon myself to trade the Sneaky Cheetah for a cool looking motorcycle, which I got from a buddy of mine. The motorcycle, however, is an animal of a different nature, as scooters don’t have a clutch, or a shifter, and for the Sneaky Cheetah, I didn’t even need the special “M” Class license in Illinois to ride it. I decided I needed to take a motorcycle riding course.

I took the course this past week. We were six students and one instructor over two days: In the morning we were in a classroom learning bike basics and road safety, and both afternoons were spent “in the field” learning how to operate a motorcycle. On the third morning there was the “M class” licensing test, administered by an

Invitation to a Dialogue: Fixing the Schools

Published: July 5, 2011

Jason Polan

Mr. Brooks has misrepresented my views. While I have criticized charter schools, I am always careful to point out that they vary widely. The overwhelming majority of high-quality research studies on charters shows that some are excellent, some are abysmal and most are no better than regular public schools.

Some charters succeed because they have additional resources, supplied by their philanthropic sponsors; some get better results by adding extra instructional time. We can learn from these lessons to help regular public schools.

Others succeed by limiting the admission of students with disabilities and those who can’t read English, or by removing those with learning problems. These students are then overrepresented in regular public schools, making comparisons between the two sectors unfair.

I don’t want to get rid of testing. But tests should be used for information and diagnostics

ATLANTA — A state investigation released Tuesday showed rampant, systematic cheating on test scores in this city’s long-troubled public schools, ending two years of increasing skepticism over remarkable improvements touted by school leaders.

The results of the investigation, made public by Gov. Nathan Deal, showed that the cheating occurred at 44 schools and involved at least 178 teachers and principals, almost half of whom have confessed, the governor said.

A culture of fear, intimidation and retaliation existed in the district, which led to a

Relationships in Learning

Photo Credits: It is important to recognize that “liking” and the ability to see connections and possibilities is key to learning

If you think back to those classes or courses you loved the most during your education I think you will find that what made the course so compelling was the relationship you developed. It could be a relationship with the teacher. “I loved Mrs. Cannon; she was the best teacher, she was fun and fair and hard but she helped me so much.” Or, you may have loved the topic and content so the teacher didn’t really matter. “I want to learn enough French so I can be talk to people from France and maybe visit there.” Learning happens in relationships with either people or content. So it is important to recognize that “liking” and the ability to see connections and possibilities is key to learning for the long haul.

Clearly you can be terrorized into learning. Fear of being embarrassed in front of others; fear of being held back in some way; or even fear of some change in your public image. But learning through fear is short term learning. It is the kind of thing you remember for the test but forget as soon as the grade or presentation is over. This learning is often characterized by how quickly it is forgotten and how little you can actually say about the topic after the event.

thedailybeast.com - As families gather to celebrate Independence Day, it is time to rethink the notion that civics instruction is less than vital in the global economy of the 21st century. If you want to succeed, the ...

washingtonpost.com - I am not a doctor but I play one in my office, and I have detected a new, possibly infectious syndrome. I will refer to it (when I alert the Centers for Disease Control) as “Ravitch Rage.” Here, as...

washingtonpost.com - -- This was written by Carol Corbett Burris, the principal of South Side High School in New York. She was named the 2010 New York State Outstanding Educator by the School Administrators Associatio...

bigeducationape.blogspot.com - New CRS Report Raises Concerns about Education Secretary's Recent Waiver ProposalWASHINGTON, D.C. — A new report from the independent Congressional Research Service (CRS) raises concerns about the ...

bigeducationape.blogspot.com - Rhee's Florida education reform plan called a 'train wreck'Baltimore superintendent shows DC how they should have handled ErasureGate For full ErasureGate coverage, see our page here. Written by Ja...

avclub.com - Steve Earle’s songs have long been populated by victims of—and occasional victors over—tragicomic circumstance. But his new album, I’ll Never Get Out Of This World Alive, traffics in a fuzzier mudd...

preaprez.wordpress.com - I don’t even read the Wall Street Journal. But a couple of quotes from National Education reporter Stephanie Banchero by me on the NEA RA impressed a few of my friends and brought me new readers. E...

bigeducationape.blogspot.com - Our Middle Fingers Are The Same Color, Too | The Jose VilsonOur Middle Fingers Are The Same Color, Tooby JosePowerman Can't Catch a Cab EitherYesterday, I reflected on the state of our country in a...

cfnews13.com - ORLANDO -- An ongoing feud between the city of Orlando, and a group that feeds the homeless, is costing taxpayers big time. Activist organization Food Not Bombs says it will hold another feeding M...

labornotes.org - A Democratic mayor’s veto last Tuesday will not be enough to stop a three-year-old push for paid sick leave in Philadelphia. More than 100 labor, faith, and community groups back the law, which wou...

hispanicallyspeakingnews.com - Published at 5:17 pm, July 5, 2011 Photo Credits: Raramuri of Mexico. More U.S. Hispanics Indentifying Themselves as American Indian As the number of Hispanics continue to grow, so too is the numbe...

preaprez.wordpress.com - This is the fifth morning I’ve attended the state caucus meeting of the NEA RA. I’ve been commuting from home. I valet my car at the hotel and I’ve gotten to know the doorman pretty well. He says t...

wildaboutmath.com - July 5th, 2011 | by Sol | I’m about to make a big change in my life to have my work be aligned with my deep love of Math. Part of that change is going to be about having richer connections with oth...

mediaite.com - For many famous people, Twitter has become a way to interact directly with the people who follow their careers– a quick way to eliminate the stranglehold many middle men and public relations teams ...

bigeducationape.blogspot.com - Daily Kos: Putting the NEA endorsement of Obama in contextPutting the NEA endorsement of Obama in contextby rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)it will be portrayed by some as "overwhelming" when it in fa...

schooltechconnect.com - This will be my last NEA endorsement post for a while, I promise. And who really knows how things will work out-- it may have been a canny move on Dennis Van Roekel's part to speed up the unearned ...

my.firedoglake.com - Well that didn’t take long at all. Ohio, with its anti-union, pro-corporate governor John Kasich, is planning on selling 5 state prisons to private companies who won’t perform to the same standards...

search.japantimes.co.jp - Around 45 percent of children in Fukushima Prefecture checked by the prefectural and central governments in late March experienced thyroid exposure to radiation, although in all cases in trace amou...

democraticunderground.com - Source: Evening StandardAid agencies have launched emergency appeals after warning "millions of people" face a fight for survival because of the worst drought in East Africa in decades.Today leadin...

blog.aflcio.org - In a special July 4 guest column, Scott Paul, executive director of the Alliance for American Manufacturing says one way we can all show our patriotism and boost the economy is to do our best to bu...

bigeducationape.blogspot.com - New CRS Report Raises Concerns about Education Secretary's Recent Waiver ProposalWASHINGTON, D.C. — A new report from the independent Congressional Research Service (CRS) raises concerns about the ...

bigeducationape.blogspot.com - Rhee's Florida education reform plan called a 'train wreck'Baltimore superintendent shows DC how they should have handled ErasureGate For full ErasureGate coverage, see our page here. Written by Ja...

bigeducationape.blogspot.com - Daily Kos: Putting the NEA endorsement of Obama in contextPutting the NEA endorsement of Obama in contextby rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)it will be portrayed by some as "overwhelming" when it in fa...

preaprez.wordpress.com - NEA VP Lily Eskelsen appeared on MSNBC this morning to explain yesterday’s NEA RA daily double: The early no strings endorsement of Obama and the adoption of the bogus Policy Statement on Accountab...

chicagotribune.com - There is only one man in my life who sits by the phone on Father's Day, Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas awaiting my call.Albert Walter. He was my high school guidance counselor.Not only did Mr. ...